Dinner | Adventures in Thyme

Italian Crescent Casserole – it’s a winner!

March 5, 2014 by Ginger 1 Comment

Italian Crescent Casserole

This recipe won a bake off competition back in 1978 and is posted, in it’s original form here. We’ve changed it up a bit by changing out the cheese for dairy free versions and using Bison meat instead of regular hamburger. The recipe is very easy and open to modification, so whether you add Pepper Jack cheese, or maybe use Turkey meat, you’ll save this recipe to eat again and again.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground meat (we used Bison)
~1/8 cup of finely chopped sweet onion
1 cup pasta sauce (we used “Traditional” but a brand heavier on garlic would be awesome!)
~2 cups shredded cheese – we used Vegan Mozzarella and Vegan Monterey Jack)
1/4 cup dairy free sour cream
1 can Refrigerated Crescent Dinner Rolls (TIP: keep this in the fridge until you need it)
1/2 cup grated Pecorino cheese (but you could use Parmesan)
~3 tablespoons butter or margarine (2 tablespoons need to be melted)
~1 tablespoon of herbs (we used a combo of rosemary, thyme & sage)
1 9″ pie pan

Preparation (please read all instructions first as you can be multitasking during the different preparation stages if you’re fast):

While your oven heats to 375 degrees F, melt a tablespoon of butter in your fry pan and cook your onions till translucent, then add meat stirring as needed until the meat is cooked through. Remove any excess grease and add the pasta sauce and herbs. Cook until the sauce begins to bubble and then reduce heat.

If you have not already done so, shred your cheese (mozzarella/jack) into a bowl and mix in the sour cream. In a separate bowl, add your shredded pecorino (or parmesan) and 2 tablespoons melted butter. Mix well – this will be used as a spread later.

Pour the meat mixture into the bottom of your pie pan and carefully layer the sour cream mixture over the top. Get the crescent roll container out of the fridge, open, and then lay the triangles over the mixture – arranging these so the points are in the center is the easiest!

Finally, carefully spread the butter-cheese mixture on the crescent rolls. Place in oven and bake approximately 30mins or until your oven cooks the rolls to a golden brown.

Enjoy!

Goodbye Sochi, Hello Stoli!

February 26, 2014 by Ginger 1 Comment

Penne with pepper vodka sauce

Here’s a tasty little recipe that will keep your own torch burning using a little Stoli Hot (jalapeño infused vodka).

Ingredients:

1 Box of Penne Pasta (1lb)
~2 Tablespoons each of Butter & Olive Oil
1/2 Sweet Onion, chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 Cup of Vodka (1/2 Stoli Hot, 1/2 plain vodka)
1 Can Tomato Sauce (~15oz)
1 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
~1/4 Teaspoon each of Rosemary, Basil & Thyme
Generous Cup of grated Pecorino Cheese (can substitute with parmesan)
Black Pepper to taste

How to cook it:

Set your pot of water on the stove and bring to boil. Cook noodles per product directions.

While the water is coming to temperature, heat a frying pan on medium low with butter and oil, adding chopped garlic and onions when ready. Allow these to cook ~10 mins or until translucent then add the vodka. Bring this mixture back up to temperature (you can see it begin to steam and bubble), add the can of tomato sauce, herbs, salt & pepper. Mix well and bring back up to temperature.

At this point I grab a strainer, mine is about 6″ wide and using a ladle pour my vodka sauce thru the strainer and back into the fry pan – so basically I am removing all the chunks of garlic and onion. This is a personal choice of course, you can certainly leave them in, but I prefer a smoother sauce and the garlic and onions have already made their contributions to the party (IMHO). Add the cream and mix well. Grab your pecorino (or parmesan) and grate a generous cup of cheese – take 1/2 a cup or 3/4 cup whatever suits your fancy and dump that into your vodka sauce, mixing well.

The noodles should be done by now, so strain those out using a colander. Fill your bowl with noodles, spoon some vodka sauce over the top and sprinkle on some additional cheese. The Stoli Hot adds a subtle heat well suited to this creamy sauce. You can also substitute the Stoli Hot with bacon infused vodka. Yes, I said bacon!

Nachos

February 12, 2014 by Dan Leave a Comment

Nachos

Here’s a low cost, easily adaptable dish that is good as a snack or a meal. It can be made Vegan, Vegetarian, or all out meatlicious; mild, medium, or OMG! Consider our recipe a basic one, add, detract, or just let your imagination run wild. Nachos are also very conducive to set up buffet style, where everyone can customize their own plate. What could be simpler after a long day?

1 Pound Meat (ground beef or shredded beef or you could substitute ground turkey)
1 Package Taco Seasoning
1 Can Refried Beans
Corn Chips
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1 Large Tomato, diced
1 Avocado, diced
Cilantro, chopped
1 Lime (Optional)

Cook your meat with your favorite taco seasoning. If using ground beef, be sure the beef is browned evenly and broken up into small pieces. Heat your refried beans.

Place a layer of corn ships on an oven safe plate. Top with a layer of your meat and beans. Add another layer of corn chips and again cover with a layer of meat and beans. Add a third layer of corn chips and a third layer of meat and beans. Top with the shredded cheddar cheese. (If you use pre-shredded cheese, be sure it has no anti-caking agent in it or it won’t melt nicely.) Place your place on a baking sheet and put under your broiler for a few minutes. Watch it closely and remove as soon as the cheese melts. Be careful, the plate and baking sheet will be hot.

Serve hot and top with diced tomato, diced avocado and chopped cilantro. You can also squeeze a little lime juice over the top. Enjoy!

That which we call Bacon…

January 29, 2014 by Ginger 1 Comment

By any other name would taste as yummy. Bacon – it’s all the rage, but was it ever not? Today we’re actually cooking with its close relative – Pancetta. Typically, bacon and pancetta both come from pork belly and are cured, but bacon is cold-smoked while pancetta remains au natural. The flavors of each are distinct, but can easily be interchanged one for the other.

Let’s be frank tho, who the heck cares?! Once either starts frying in your pan you’ll soon have a crowd in the kitchen sniffing around like bloodhounds. Let’s cut the chatter and rattle some pots and pans with Roasted Brussels Sprout Farfalle with Pancetta.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts Farfalle

You will need:
1 box of Farfalle pasta (also packaged as “bowtie pasta”)
~ 4 Pancetta slices – slivered (if your grocery store’s deli does not have pancetta you can normally find packaged pancetta in the refrigerated section with specialty deli meats and cheeses)
1 lb of Brussels Sprouts (or about 1/2 lb per person) cleaned and sliced into quarters
1/2 sweet onion – sliced (or a shallot if you are not fond of onions)
1 garlic clove – chopped
1 tsp of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1.5 cups of heavy whipping cream
1 cup of shredded pecorino cheese (or parmesan if you prefer)
1 lemon – zested
salt – to taste

1. Heat your oven to 425 degrees F and prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper; in lieu of that you can use an oven safe oiled pan.

2. Put ~ 1 tsp of oil in a fry pan and fry the pancetta slivers. You are accomplishing two things (1) Making the crumbles for the top of the dish AND (2) drawing out the pancetta flavor/oil for the onions and brussel sprouts. Keep stirring the pancetta until they are brown and crispy (but not Bacos!), carefully remove the pancetta but not the oil and layer the crumbles on a paper towel.

3. Into this hot pan (with the pancetta oil) fry the onions until they begin to soften, now add the brussels sprouts and continue to cook 5-8 minutes. The sprouts will turn a vibrant green. Keep stirring. The onions should now be translucent or close to it. Add the garlic and stir a few more minutes. Carefully spoon the mixture onto your prepared oven pan – try not to spoon out any extra grease (but there really shouldn’t be much in there; it should be coating your veggies). Place in your oven and cook about 20 minutes or until the brussels sprouts are tender – they still have “body” but they aren’t crunchy. Also, set aside your fry pan to use for the sauce later.

4. While the sprout mixture cooks in the oven start a pot of water to boil for the farfalle, and cook it. Reserve ~ a cup of pasta water for possible use later.

5. While the farfalle and veggies are cooking, pour the 1.5 cups of heavy cream and cup of pecorino back into the fry pan and bring the temperature up – do not boil this, just a nice slow heat until the cheese is incorporated and the sauce thickens. If it gets too thick use some of the pasta water to thin it out.

6. When the farfalle is al dente pour thru a strainer and add the pasta to the sauce. When the brussels sprouts are tender add this to the sauce and noodles, mix gently.

7. Serve with pancetta crumbles and lemon zest. Enjoy!

Finally, and without further ado: What’s the name of a movie about bacon?

Hamlet of course!

Souper Comfort Food

January 15, 2014 by Ginger Leave a Comment

Potato Soup

It’s amazing how a humble little root evokes such memories of bygone days. When I was little and Dad travelled out of town or was late coming home, Mom would promise us “the special dinner”. No matter how much we begged, we only got it when Dad was gone. It was almost torture waiting…waiting for Dad to leave so we could have the most wonderful of all dinners – potato soup. And once “the special dinner” had been declared it meant we were taking a drive in our blue 1960s Chevy Stationwagon to the store for fresh sourdough bread. Mom would always let us rip off the ends and chew on them as we drove home, it was glorious. We had no seatbelts to restrain our enthusiasm as we giggled and tumbled around the back of that old wagon heading home to soup! Egads, a wonder we survived childhood!

Little did we know that “the special dinner” was special to Mom too. It’s a no fuss, easy peasy recipe that she could throw together easily. A perfect meal that allows plenty of time to relax after a long day. It takes 4 ingredients: water, potatoes, dehydrated onions, evaporated milk. That’s it. Let’s get cooking!

Dice your potatoes in bite sized squares. I gauge the amount needed by about one potato per person. Try to dice evenly so they’ll cook uniformly. Place in a pot and add water about 1″ inch over the top. Sprinkle the dehydrated onions on – more if you like onions, less if you don’t. Bring to boil. Add a little more water if the water boils down to the potato tops. After about 15 mins or so see how “fork tender” the potatoes are. Are they still too crunchy? Soft enough for you? Keep boiling if you’d like them softer, but once they are as tender as you like, decrease down to medium and add a can of evaporated milk (one can for 1-3 potatoes, more cans as needed). Once the soup has almost reached a boil, it’s ready. At this point, you can add a pat of butter, a pinch of garlic salt, a slice of sourdough bread, whatever suits you. Now sit back, relax, and ponder memories of childhood. How sweet they can be. 🙂